


Portraits of the Dead

by Nerd_division



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Buzzfeed demon au, Ghosts, I really love angst, Its a cool location, M/M, May have happy ending, Mutual Pining, Obis truly the main character, Time skips that eventually converge, and demons, crescent moon hotel, hyperactive ryan, im really proud of this one, obi will be here, of course, ryan bergara - Freeform, shane madej - Freeform, sorry - Freeform, still ghost hunters, visiting crescent moon hotel, written at 2 am
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25416184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_division/pseuds/Nerd_division
Summary: Shane and Ryan head to Arkansas to visit the most haunted hotel in America. The Crescent Moon hotel. Ryan wants to find ghosts, and not by the hands of any of the many ghosts that haunt the place. He was afraid of the wrong thing.Shane wants to have a normal ghost hunting night with his best friend. But the Crescent Moon hotel is different. And protecting him from the demons there may reveal his secret.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	1. The Haunted Hotel

\---------- 10:13 p.m.

Shane Stared up at the clouds. It was about ten O'clock at night, so the sun was dipping below the trees, highlighting the green leaves with the last gold and orange of the day. The cloud in question was thin, see through. The clouds marbled the sky. Laying on his back, Shane could feel the pressure releasing from his spine. Sitting in a car all day was not easy on a back. He knew his bones could not expand, or flatten, but he could imagine his lungs pushing his spine flat and push his ribs up. 

More breaths released more pressure.

Ryan was talking with the crew, preparing for some interviews just inside the visitors center a couple yards away.

\---------- 12:42 a.m.

Ryan knew it was strange, possibly even insane, but his first thought was, 'Damn, I really wish I had my squirt gun.'

And maybe it wasn't foolish, for holy water would surely help this situation.

\--------- 10:15 p.m.

The door of the visitors center opened with a chime, and closed with a thud. Ryan still yelling cheery goodbyes with whatever kindly women was waving.

Shane closed his eyes, hoping his lack of vision would enhance his sense of hearing. Eventually he heard- felt- Ryan's footsteps. He wondered how much Earth was beneath him, how many miles of soil, and stone, and magma before the center, he thought of sinking through the dirt like water.

Ryan sat down with a sigh, scooting to be eye level with the taller man before laying down.

"Hey Ry?" Shane held his smile, trying not to burst with laughter.

"Hmm?"

"There's something very important I need to tell you, it cannot wait, do you trust me?"

Were Shane's eyes open he would see Ryan's concerned face, "Yeah Shane, what is it?"

Ryan was at a loss of what Shane could say, right before a show no less. He thought of every interaction they had for the past while, looking for an indication of something. Did Obi die?

"You have mustard on your shirt."

Shane burst into laughter, Ryan joining shortly after looking at his shirt, and the mustard stain on it.

\---------- 12:56 a.m.

Ryan was promptly pushed against the wall, the air knocked out of his lungs and his head hitting the wall. It felt like a baseball bat hit him, or a truck.

The Thing holding him was thrown across the room hitting a pillar, the concrete crumbling.

As Ryan fell to the floor he felt something cool on his arm and then the heat of blood.

He cut his arm on a broken pipe. 'Great,' he thought, 'this Thing will kill me before I have to get a god damn tetanus shot.

Unbeknownst to Ryan the 'Thing' was a demon, currently getting its ass handed to it by-

"Shane?"

Shane looked at Ryan, on his knees, one hand at the cold damp floor, the other dripping blod and holding his swarming head.

He- Shane- looked wrong, all sharp angles and taller, his eyes were... Gold?

"... Not Shane."

Ryan passed out.

\---------- 10:23 p.m.

After laughing for a solid two minutes on the grass, Shane and Ryan headed for the hotel.

Ryan noted, begrudgingly, that there were no guests. In a haunted hotel with a gruesome history. The weekend was reserved for maintenance, so no guests were staying, and the owners let Shane and Ryan do their investigation.

2,947 square feet of land, and Shane and Ryan were completely alone.

Noticing Ryan's demeanor Shane spoke up, "Oh, come on Ry, Doctor Whats-his-face isn't gonna get you. No seven shots a day."

"Baker."

"What?"

Ryan took a deep breath, "The 'doctors'," Ryan added air-quotes over doctor, "name was Norman Baker, he injected his patients with ground peppermint. It was painful, he doctors administered it through the screams of patients, he had psych ward type rooms because of it."

He took another deep breath, done with his info dump.

With a pat on the back, Shane said some affirming things to him, but the huge building towered over Ryan.

This place was different.

A/N: Hey Shaniacs and Boogaras! I really love the Crescent Moon hotel (the site of our investigation) and will try not to bore you with history, but the next chapter is just me explaining the history. A long one and a short one. Hope you liked the first chapter. Comments fuel my existence.


	2. History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this is the history chapter, you can skip it if you like, but the history is really amazing and I had fun writing it. It is mostly from memory because I couldn't find many places that talked in depth of the ghosts.

Author speaking,

Hey Guys, I am a total nerd and have visited the location the boys are at, so I wrote out the history by memory and a little research.

You don't have to read it, you can skip the chapter but I recommend reading because it is a really interesting history, but if you would like a strange history and some creepy ghost stories, go ahead and read!

The property is beautiful, if you are ever in Arkansas, especially if you like ghosts, go stay there. The entire hotel is built to look like the original, or at least just really old and beautiful.

(No articles I found really discussed the gruesome details so I am going on memory of when I visited. Skip to the end for a shorter version.)

Built in 1886, the Crescent Moon Hotel is home to many ghosts, but since this is for a fic, I'll cut the Finals Paper lingo and get right to the history.

The Hotel was originally built to house the many rich people coming to use the eureka springs Healing Waters. A, local, newspaper named it America's most luxurious resort hotel. Funny that it is now known as America's most haunted hotel. (Ohh, I like that line, I may write it in.)

When building the hotel, one of the workers- Michael"- was on the roof, he was leaning over it to whistle at pretty girls walking past, he lost his balance and hit a balcony below, he died on impact. it is said that you can hear him hit the balcony at night if you are staying in the right room, room 218.

There were many activities there, tennis courts, flower gardens, swimming pools, banquets and gatherings.

Of course it can be assumed that many of the people who came to utilize the healing waters died (It is never stated that they did, but people with ailments die). And those who stayed started to realize the healing waters were a scam, they left. After this it lost money and closed.

From 1908 to 1924 it was a women's college. (I found little about the actual ghosts, and am recounting most of these stories from my visit there.) One of the students got pregnant and fell from the roof, whether the father of the unborn child pushed her, or she threw herself from the building is unknown but she is said to be seen on the roof.It closed down yet again and reopened as another college and then yet again as another hotel, I have no ghost stories in this small time period.

This is where it really gets weird. In 1937 a conman by the name of Norman Baker bought the property and opened a cancer hospital. HE HAD NO MEDICAL EXPERIENCE. He would inject patients with up to seven shots a day with inane ingredients such as ground peppermint. Obviously, they died.

He would have the doctors that worked for him continue to write letters to the families of the dead patients saying that the treatment was going well and to send more money, AFTER THE PATIENTS WERE DEAD. They stored the bodies in a morgue in the basement.

The head nurse, who was kind is said to be seen pushing gurneys and opening her room door.

Baker is seen at the foot of the main stairs, the recreational room, and the morgue.

Supposedly the daughter of one of the nurses fell down the main stairway, breaking her neck. She is said to wear blonde pigtails, I believe I have a photo of her in storage somewhere.

It is said there is a ghost in each of the 78 rooms.

Baker could only get charged with mail fraud, since none of his injections directly killed anyone, and only served four years from 1940-1944. He died in 1958. Excuse me while I scream because wow, that's just insane.

TL;DR: When it was being built a man fell off and died when he hit a balcony.

It was a hotel for sick people visiting the healing waters. It shut down and became a women's school where a student died, possibly murdered.

Shut down a few more times, and became a cancer hospital run by a conman in 1937. He would inject patients with tea, cloves, and ground peppermint. ick. He had doctors that worked for him write patients families AFTER THEY WERE DEAD, telling then to send more money for the treatment, when the families had no clue their son, wife, husband cousin etc. were DEAD.

One of the nurses is said to be seen opening her room door or pushing a gurney.Baker is seen at the foot of the main stairs, the recreational room, and the morgue.  
Supposedly the daughter of one of the nurses fell down the main stairway, breaking her neck. She is said to wear blonde pigtails, I believe I have a photo of her in storage somewhere.

It is said there is a ghost in each of the 78 rooms.

He got only four years jail time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys had fun, I love the history.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, hope you liked it. Comments fuel my entire existence. (So do kudos). ell me what you think. COMMENT THEORIES, I would really love them. comment ideas, where you think the story is gonna go, honestly you have as much of a clue to where its going as I do.


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